Community Health Systems' purchase of hospital chain was biggest deal in Southeast in 2013

Feb. 1, 2014

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The value of mergers and acquisitions in the Southeast grew by 17 percent in 2013, with Franklin-based Community Health Systems making the largest purchase of the year.

The 480 deals involving companies in the Southeast were valued at $73.6 billion, up from $62.7 billion in 2012, according to a report from Mergermarket Group news service. The most merger activity in the Southeast was in the industrials and chemicals sector, followed by pharma, medical and biotech.

Community Health Systems completed its $7.1 billion acquisition of Florida-based Health Management Associates Inc. on Monday, creating by one measure the largest for-profit hospital company in the country.

CHS is now the largest hospital operator in terms of the number of facilities; Nashville-based HCA remains the largest in terms of annual revenue.

Through its affiliates, CHS now owns, leases or operates 206 hospitals in 29 states. The company’s affiliates employ more than 135,000 people, with about 27,000 physicians serving on the medical staffs of CHS-affiliated hospitals.

Vanguard Health sale

The purchase of Nashville-based Vanguard Health Systems by Tenet Healthcare Corp. of Texas ranked as the year’s third-largest deal at $4.1 billion.

“Valuations seem to be increasing, interest rates are still relatively low,” said Marlene Star, deputy editor of Mergermarket. “There is lot of private equity money that is interested in investing. Those are things that bode well for growth.”

Florida, with $34.7 billion in deals — including the CHS/HMA deal — had the largest growth in the region. Mergers and acquisitions in Georgia, meanwhile, dropped 34 percent to $8.9 billion in 2013.